CHEN MAN CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHER

CHEN MAN WAS BORN IN 1980 BEIJING, CHINA

She grew up after the Cultural Revolution as a part of the one-child policy. Today she produces covers and advertising campaigns for fashion magazines including Marie Claire, i-D, Elle, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and collaborates with major brands worldwide. She started studying painting when she was only two years old. Later on, in life moved to various kinds of paintings including Western, Chinese also studied architecture and graphic design. The need for change made her want to try photography. Today she mainly photographs people.

‘We should utilise the way people view fashion to repackage issues such as animal protection, classic philosophies and traditional things because people’s eyes are spoiled by materialism.’

Victoria Beckham photographed by Chen Man

CAREER STAGES

For a long time, she was not recognised by other Chinese photographers as an artist. Her career has gone through three stages; the first stage was the Vision series for Vision Magazine. Then entered a fashion scene, that’s when her second stage began. Chen Man started doing a lot of fashion and commercial shoots. Her third stage is fusing Chinese artistic roots with a Western approach. She combines photographic techniques and posts work technologies.

Chen Man is the first to photograph China’s contemporary fashion scene, capturing the traditional culture and philosophies in visual settings. Her work expresses the relation between East and West, present and the future, earth and humans and the universe and humans.

‘To change the world you need more than one person’s strength. It’s not like before with the hero doctrine. To change the world you need the strength of the collective. So I photograph groups of people.’